Oath
by zeke morgan
Summary: A 17 year old sees a ghost in a mall but quickly realizes that the ghost isn't a ghost at all, but a person trying to give him a message of life or death.
1. Chapter 1

"Look, Jay, I can see myself in the window on the roof of the mall." Michelle pointed to the glass-pane roof.

"So you can." Jay said, barely looking up to see his reflection.

"Where did you get your clothing? I like the sleeveless look, and those army pants are pretty cool too." Christine, Michelle's friend, looked over as she asked.

"Still Line." Jay said as he shifted his position, leaning forward a bit.

"I don't know why," Lauren commented, "They aren't exactly in style."

"I don't go for style." Jay retorted, almost instantly, staring down at the floor.

"I bet you have a girlfriend don't you?" Christine looked cautiously at Jay as she asked.

"Nah." Jay lifted his head and looked closely at the reflection on the roof, careful not to make eye contact with Christine.

"Why not?" She sort of chuckled, then her features changed as she watched Jay stare at the roof, now intently. Lauren looked up at Jay to see what answer he would give Christine.

"Women don't interest me I suppose." Jay got up from where he was seated, now uncomfortable, and Lauren got up as well. Jay looked over his shoulder at her and sort of chuckled. He picked up the plastic bag with his purchase and started to walk away.

"What? Figures. You know you are everything a girl like me could want. Scruffy blonde hair, blue eyes, perfect weight, the way you dress."

"I know." Jay said, looking over at her then forward as he started walking. As he took a step he realized he didn't agree. He was as thin as a twig. His thumb and pinky finger could comfortably touch when wrapped around his wrist. He never lifted a weight in his life. That didn't make him less confident though.

A man about Jay's height and about 200 pounds came over. He had a small goatee and hair cut short, close to his head. His eyes were brown and his dress was that of army pants and a blue short sleeve shirt with a white star on it. He gave Jay a stern push and Jay, off guard, fell to the side. Jay rose up, dropping his plastic bag, and he turned to this man.

"Adam?" Jay said, his eyes displayed a sense of mystery and confusion.

"What? How do you know my name, faggot?"

"I guess we share the same fate then." Jay chuckled, looking to the ground, tensing his fists.

Behind Adam were two of his friends. One had a mohawk hair cut that was dyed pink. He wore goth clothing, you know, the black pants with chains, and he had some band printed on his shirt. The other was thin like Jay, but wore black and wore dark eye liner. He had medium length hair combed to one side, over one of his eyes.

"Why did you push me?" Jay looked up into Adam's eyes, expressionless.

"To fight." Adam said this and raised his fists by his head, into a guarded stance.

"Fine." Jay smiled halfway and put his hands up. Jay looked to his left and right for police patrolling the mall. None were in sight.

"Afraid of the consequences?"

"Just one. Getting arrested for beating the shit out of you."

"You? Ha! Just look at yourself. Let's go!" Adam's voice rose toward a yell when he finished his sentence.

The two men ran toward each other in the direct center of the mall. Their reflections blurred on the roof as they made their way toward each other. Adam opened up his fists and went to grab Jay but Jay dropped to the ground, grabbing Adam by the waist, and he lifted his right foot into Adam's stomach. Jay through Adam over his head and rolled onto his stomach, to find Adam had landed on his hands and knees. Jay and Adam rose to their feet.

"Somehow I knew you'd do that." Adam shook out his legs and tensed his body up again.

Adam charged toward Jay again, throwing a hook punch at Jay's cheek. Jay ducked the swing, and lifted himself back up with his fist aiming toward Adam's jaw. A split second before the uppercut landed, Adam tilted his head to the side. He his hook punch again and Jay blocked it with his forearm. Adam through his other hand at Jay and Jay blocked the second punch. A bead of sweat fell from Jay's forehead as he threw his hands at Adam's shoulders to push him back. At the same time, Adam pushed Jay in the stomach with both hands to push himself back. They both landed in their guard stances.

Jay glared into Adam's eyes. "How old are you? You look thirty, but I have to hand it to you. You move moderately fast for an old man."

"I'm seventeen." Adam called out, still in control of his breath.

"Maybe it's just because your hair makes up four pounds of your weight, that I misjudged your age."

"You seem pretty damn confident for a fourteen year old. Or are you seventeen as well?"

"It would seem, as I've stated, we share the same fate."

Jay looked around the center of the mall and found a ring (a square really) of people were around Adam and him. Some had shopping bags and others had purses, or even their children. Some were kneeling, others were sitting, or leaning on the plant pots near the edge. Another bead of sweat fell from Jay's forehead, and he wiped his head with his forearm. His skin was slightly red from blocking the punches. After all, there was a lot of weight behind those punches.

Jay bent his knees, grabbed the plastic bag, and threw it as he lunged forward. The bag, with a box of silverware in it, flew at Adam but he ducked the projectile and dashed toward Jay. He jumped in the air with his right foot out, aimed Jay's head. Jay quickly slid under Adam's body while he was in the air, and got back up on his feet as Adam landed and turned toward him. Jay dusted off his black shirt.

"This needs to end now!" Adam yelled as a bead of sweat fell from him as he ran toward Jay. Jay stood motionless with his hands down my his side. Adam raised his fist to throw a reverse punch at Jay's face. Jay stood as the massive teen uncoiled his wound up arm. Adam's eyes widened as he watched Jay stand there as his fist engaged with Jay's nose.

After the impact, Jay spun to the side, then quickly looked up again, staring at Adam.

"You could have blocked that." Adam said.

"I needed to make sure this wasn't a dream. We need to talk."

Adam's mouth opened and he tilted his head. "What?"

"Let's go, to the bathroom or something. I cannot speak in front these guys." Jay said, quiet enough that only Adam could hear him.

Adam put his hands down by his side as Jay started walking past him. He looked over his shoulder as Jay made his way through the crowd. A police officer stopped Jay.

"What the hell was that?"

"Didn't you know? A martial arts demonstration."

"Why wasn't I informed?" The officer growled at Jay as Jay walked past him, bumping shoulders with the officer.

"I don't know. Ask your superior." He said as he walked toward the restrooms.

Adam started to run to catch up to Jay. As he walked out of the crowd they started to cheer and clap.

Lauren and her friends as well as Adam's friends ran up behind him.

"Stay here." He said to the two he came with.

Lauren, Michelle, and Christine followed Jay all the way up to the bathroom but did not enter when Jay entered. Adam pushed open the door and followed Jay in.

Jay stood by the sink looking at himself in the mirror. He discovered his nose was bleeding, and grabbed a paper towel. Adam watched with his arms folded on his chest.

"So what's going on?" Adam lifted up one hand in motion as he asked.

"I don't know. You started it." Jay put a paper towel to his nose for a minute, then pulled it away.

"You knew my name. How?"

"The same way you found out I was gay. Listening to a conversation that did not belong to you." Jay looked over at him, and Adam saw that the blood had not stopped running.

Jay continued, "But that wasn't the only time I've seen you before. I saw you in my dreams once. You were shirtless and had a tattoo of some foreign writing right above your left armpit, under your triceps. Adam pulled back his blue sleeve and stared at the permanent ink on his arm.

"You couldn't have known that--" He stated. In disbelief he looked around the bathroom. All the stalls and urinals were empty.

"Except through a dream. What does it say?"

"It says, 'I'll never stop searching.'"

"Well now you can stop searching." Jay stepped toward Adam, passing a few sinks.

Adam quickly met Jay half way and embraced him, resting his head on Jay's shoulder, and Jay rested his on Adam's neck.

"What the hell is going on?" Adam said.

"I have no frigin idea." Jay whispered.

Adam felt something drip down his neck and onto the collar of his shirt. He quickly broke the embrace and touched the liquid. It was Jay's blood.

Jay raised his hand reaching out. "I'm sorry about that, I stained a part of your shirt."

"Listen, I can't stay long." Adam turned his head away, looking down at the floor.

Jay, surprised, scratched the back of his head. "Please, let me buy you another shirt. Where is it from?"

"Still Line." Jay recognized this store. It was where he got his sleeveless shirt.

"Let's go then." Jay said as he started to walk past Adam.

"No, no I can't. I need to get going."

"Why? Don't you see?" Jay raised his hands up pointing to his surroundings, "This wasn't a mistake. It was fate. It would take a fool to think otherwise."

"Then don't be a fool." Adam said as he grabbed Jay's hands gently and pulled him closer. "If only for a second, let it last forever." Adam tilted his head and his lips touched Jays.


	2. Chapter 2

Jay awakened to the sound of the alarm on his cell phone. He rose out of bed and wiped his nose on his forearm. As he made his way to the bathroom he realized there was blood on his arm from his nose. As he turned to the enter his bathroom his mom stopped him.

"Another bloody nose? I hate this winter weather. Too much dry air."

"Yeah..." Jay agreed reluctantly.

"One more day until my birthday!" His mother smiled and walked into her bedroom.

"One more day? But you said that yesterday, mom." Jay flipped on the light switch to the bathroom and entered, expelling a yawn.

"You been dreaming of me again?"

Jay examined his nose in the mirror, now running with blood again. Jay responds, "Me, dream of you? Psssh."

Taking off his clothing and hopping into the shower, he washed the blood off. He looked at the base of his bathtub where red water ran down the drain.

When Jay got out and put his clothing on, he went back to his room. He began searching for the gift he bought his mother, the silverware. He quickly found his efforts to be fruitless.

At that moment the phone rang. Jay reached for the phone and picked it up, running his hand through his hair. "Hello?"

"Hi, Jay? It's Lauren."

"Oh, hey." Jay said as he looked up his bed covers and around his desk for the gift once more.

"Semi was awesome, I had a great time. Did you put the pictures up on Myspace?"

"...yeah." Jay trailed off in his thoughts as he wondered where his gift disappeared too. It wasn't even wrapped.

"Are you ok? You seem preoccupied or something."

"I'm fine, just looking for something."

"Oh. Hey listen, do you want to go to the mall today?"

Jay stopped searching and looked up. "The mall? We just went yesterday."

"Huh?" Lauren's voice rose slightly as he said this.

Jay stared at the window with its closed shades. "We DID go to the mall yesterday, right?"

"No. Yesterday was a school day. I was at school then had swim practice, remember?"

Jay was silent as Lauren continued, "Did you go without me yesterday? I knew you had to get your mom a present. If you don't want to go today it's no big deal. Just, we talked about going out this weekend."

"No it's no problem, I just could have sworn we were both at the mall yesterday."

"I'll just ask someone else. Never mind, Jason."

"Wait– no, it's fine. You're right. I need to get a present."

"Alright well. I'll meet you there at 10. In the middle, like we always meet."

"Yeah."

Lauren hung up the phone and Jay looked out the window in confusion. It was a dark day, clouds filled the skies. Snow was fresh on the ground.

Jay left the house in a sweat shirt and some jeans. Over his sweat shirt he had his brown suede jacket. He put the key into his old Tracer and started the car. He backed out of the driveway and headed toward the mall. The radio off, and there was no one on the road. It was a Saturday and everyone was sleeping in. Jay sniffed in as he stopped at a light.

"And WHY is my nose still bleeding?" He brought his arm up to wipe his nose but didn't want to ruin his suede, so he used his hand. He started driving again.

"So it all was a dream then." He stared ahead of himself in the road picturing Adam in his head.

He stopped at another light. To his right was some old man getting his mail in his boxers. "He seemed so perfect," Jay said as he continued, "every quality I could want in someone. And he was my age too." Jay wiped his nose with his hand again and looked at all the blood on it. He reached for the wheel again but decided it best to keep blood off it and drove with one hand.

"I don't even search for men anymore. All people look for now is sex. And my type of man is so different from what others look for in a man. I hardly even mention it to my friends, unless they bring it up." He turned right onto another street, sniffing in.

"Even when I think I'm happy, my mind tortures me. Heh." Jay stopped at a light. Cars were in front of him.

Jay watched the set of lights to his right turn yellow. He took his foot off the breaks. "I'm done with men." He said, his car started to roll. Then he stopped to think for a second what he had said in the bathroom in his dream. "This wasn't a mistake. It was fate. It would take a fool to think otherwise," to which Adam responded, "Then don't be a fool." The front end of the Tracer bumped into the bumper of the car in front of him. Jay quickly snapped out of his daydream. The guy got out and started screaming at Jay.

"Doesn't this just beat all."

After a few hours shopping, Jay sat in the middle of the mall with Lauren to his left and Michelle and Christine to his right, just as he sat in the dream.

"Look, Jay, I can see myself in the window on the roof of the mall." Michelle pointed to the glass-pane roof.

Quietly Jay looked left and right for signs of Adam.

"Where did you get your clothing? I like the sleeveless look, and those army pants are pretty cool too." Christine, Michelle's friend, looked over as she asked.

Jay, unaware Christine had asked this, continued to search for Adam to come along.

"Jay?" Christine poked Jay in the arm, reaching over Michelle.

"WHAT?" Jay turned, yelling toward her.

"Sorry." She said looking down.

Lauren quickly grabbed Jay by his sleeve and pulled him to the side.

"What is wrong with you today?" She asked with her hands on her hips.

"If I could explain what's happened in words, I would."

"What is that supposed to mean? You know she lik--"

"There!" Jay pointed to a teen with a mohawk dyed pink, wearing goth clothing. He quickly ran over to this person and asked, "Excuse me, could you tell me where Adam is?"

The kid with the mohawk raised his eyebrow, "Who? Do I know you?"

"Adam, Adam. You know, your friend. Tall, muscular, black hair, brown eyes."

"I don't know who you are talking about." The mohawk kid started to walk away.

"The hell you don't. Where's Adam?" Jay grabbed the kid's shoulder.

The teen with mohawk threw Jay's hand off him and pushed him back. "Get away from me."

"I need to know where Adam is! I need to figure out what's going on."

"I said get away from me faggot!"

"Jay what's going on?" Jay looked over his shoulder and found Lauren staring at him. He looked back at the kid, now walking away again shaking his head.

"Wait!" He said, grabbing the kids shoulder again. The kid quickly turned around and punched Jay in the nose. Jay spun to the ground and put one of his hands on the ground to steady himself.

A police over, watching the scene, quickly ran over.

"What's going on here?"

"This asshole here," the goth kid started, "Has been harassing me, asking about his boyfriend or some shit. I told him to stop and he wouldn't leave me alone so I hit him."

The officer glanced at Jay. "That's how it happened," Jay said.

"What do you think would be an appropriate punishment for you two?" The officer asked the two of them.

"How about we just forget it happened?" Jay suggested, looking over at the goth kid.

"Fine with me." The kid glanced over at the officer for approval.

The officer paused for a moment. "You aren't getting away that easily. I want both of your I.D.s" They both pulled out their cards in dismay. "You come with me," he pointed to the goth, "And you, yourself up and come to the police booth to get your card back. I'm phoning both of your parents."

Jay looked at Lauren and she motioned something was wrong. He realized his nose was bleeding, so he went to the bathroom.

In the bathroom Jay got some paper towels and put it to his nose, looking at himself in the mirror. He looked around and found the bathroom to be empty. Jay went to where Adam was standing in the dream, still holding the paper towel to his nose, and looked around. On the first stall, next to one of the urinals, was the word "Help" written in a ghostly white color. Jay squinted and blinked, looking at the stall again. The stall had no writing on it. Jay walked closer to the stall and examined the wall again, running his hand along it. There were no markings whatsoever. He looked on the inside and found swears and graffiti, but no similar message. He shook his head and threw away his bloody paper towel, heading toward the police booth.


	3. Chapter 3

Oath, Ch. 3

"So run by me one more time why you were harassing that kid?" Jay and his mom were sitting uncomfortably across from each other in the living room. Jay shifts and slides back deeper into the chair.

"I told you. He was a friend of Adam– "

"I don't know." Jay's voice rose in a tone he was even unsure of.

"Why were you chasing after that kid for some Adam if you don't know who Adam was?"

"You have to believe me here. I had a dream that I got into a fist fight with Adam for no reason and neither one of us won because we kept countering each others techniques. It was as if we already knew what the other was planning. Like we had some sort of connection. After that we talked and we both agreed something strange was going on. I woke up and everything happened EXACTLY like it did the day before, er–, in my dream rather, except that Adam wasn't there, but his friend was, so I asked where Adam was. I thought it was a giant deja vu but he didn't know Adam."

"Connection? Great birthday gift Jason. I'll go make an appointment for a psychiatrist."

Jay raised up his hand in anger that his mother had no understood or even listened to what he was trying to say. He sat on the couch avoiding eye contact as she walked by. He sat motionless, pondering what would happen. He unexpectedly overheard that she had made that appointment for later today.

"Lauren, so you are telling me you don't remember anything about the guy who was dressed like me with the blue Still Line shirt, and my fight with him?"

"Jay, no. I have no idea what you are talking about."

"Ok, thanks. I need to get going. I need to make some other calls."

Jay hung up his cell phone and started dialing Michelle, then as it started ringing he told himself the whole situation was pointless and hung up.

"Tell me Jason, why are you here today?"

"I see dead people." Jay looked at the ground poking his two index fingers together, smiling slightly, satisfied with his answer.

The doctor frowned and turned toward his mother. "Tell me, why is Jason here today?" He asked again.

Jay's mom nodded her head up and down while saying, "He sees dead...people."

The doctor let out a sigh. "Maybe I could speak with your son alone for a few moments. Thank you."

She left, closing the door behind her. Jay was quiet and looked at the ground for a moment, listening to the clocks ticking, then when he realized the doctor wasn't talking he looked up.

"What's on your mind, Jason?"

"Present circumstances at the moment."

The doctor paused then reluctantly asked, "You don't really want to be here do you?"

Jay quickly replied almost as fast as the doctor ended his sentence, "Not a chance."

"Maybe you could explain in more detail your previous comment."

"Alright. One day I went to the mall and someone twice my size came up and started a fight with me. He threw a lot of punches and I blocked or evaded them all. I threw a bag with a box in it at him but he ducked the box, as if he knew I was going to throw it. I threw a jump kick and I slid under him at the last second, totally unscathed. We both knew something was screwy so we went to the bathroom to talk in private. What was even more screwy was I knew his name and face from a dream I had in the past. I also knew he had a tattoo he had not revealed to me at that time. I found out he liked me and he kissed me. He said he had to go and I woke up. I woke up on the day I went to the mall. Everything happened like it did in my 'dream' except that Adam was missing. Do you understand? Everything happened the same way."

"Did you find Adam to be attractive?"

"What?" Jay started to turn red.

"Are you embarrassed?"

Jay got angry at this. "Why should I be?" He crossed his arms and silently scoffed. "He was everything I look for in a...man"

"You said you had a dream about him before and that's how you knew his name. Have you had any other dreams like the one in the mall?"

"The memory of the mall wasn't a dream."

"You said yourself earlier that it was."

"Yeah, for lack of a better word."

"Ok, but the dream where you learned of his appearances, name, and his tattoo was a dream?"

"Yes."

"Have you had any other dreams like that?"

"No but I forgot to mention when I was in the mall- uh– the time when Adam wasn't there. I went into the bathroom where he...kissed me and I saw the word 'help' written on the wall of one of the stalls."

"Ah. You think he wrote it?"

"Yes. Well sort of."

"Sort of?"

"Well it was only there for a second. I mean, it was there and when I blinked it disappeared and didn't return."

"Interesting. So you never met him in real life?"

"Of course I did. I met him at the mall, that night. It wasn't a dream."

"Have you felt depressed recently or had suicidal thoughts?"

"What? No. Not at all. Not more than normal. Sometimes I get depressed because I'm lonely but all teens get depressed sometimes right?"

"Right. Have you had memories or dreams of other people besides Adam?"

"Nah."

"Did it truly feel as though you were alive in this memory?"

"Yes. I felt as though I feel right now. It did not feel like a dream. It felt like one of the days of the week. It was one of the days of the week."

"All right, I'd like to set up more appointments to talk about past problems, experiences, feelings, etc. Why don't you get your mom?"

Jay rose from his chair, palms sweaty, and opened the door to the waiting for. He called for his mom and she walked in behind him. They both sat back down.

"Mrs. Wagner, while I haven't had enough time with your son to make a proper diagnosis, I believe your son has a disease called schizophrenia," Jay's eyes widened as the doctor began to speak, "it is a brain disease. About one percent of the population suffers from it. It usually appears in the late teens and includes hearing voices, or people who believe other people can read their minds. Symptoms include distorted perceptions of reality, hallucinations or illusions, and disordered thinking."

Sweat ran down Jay's face as he sat with his mouth wide open as the doctor audaciously announced all this. His mother asked, "How could this happen? We've raised him so well."

"Scientific studies shows schizophrenia runs in families."

"That's not possible. I've never heard of this before."

"Maybe you could talk with your husband about it. While I'll need to talk with your son more, we can offer some medication to help aid in this if it does become a problem for you and your son. While usually these voices are detrimental to the person, this Adam person doesn't sound very dangerous. I would monitor your son closely to watch for any changes in behavior or personality though. We offer antipsychotic drugs such as clozapine to help remove hallucinations but it isn't a cure. A big side effect of clozapine is loss of white blood cells which could drop his resistance to colds and infection. I wouldn't worry too much about that because he is still young and healthy. I'll also right a prescription for an antidepressant such as prozac incase your son becomes or is depressed. The medication takes a few weeks to take effect and had mild side effects like high blood pressure, increased appetite, weight gain, upset stomach, vomiting, diminished sexual drive, insomnia, you know."

Jay put his hand on his forehead. "This can't be happening." He said to himself.


	4. Chapter 4

Oath Ch 4 (2/16/06) 9 PM

In front of Jay, laying on the desk innocently were the two bottles of pills. He knew before these prescriptions were filled that he didn't need them, nor would he take them. His mother wouldn't know this. Jay was out of ideas as to what he would do next but he could not get the image of Adam out of his mind. Jay asked himself why he was pursuing this so desperately but he could not answer that question. He put his hand to his nose slowly, it was still sore. How can he have made all this up? How could he have made pain up? It never felt more real. Nothing has been so true. His heart never burned so strongly for something.

Jay picked up his keys. His mom heard them jingle as he picked them up.

"Where are you going?"

"I want to be alone."

"I don't want you going out right now."

Jay opened his mouth to talk back but decided it best to just walk out the door. He reached for the car handle and pulled but the door did not open. He growled and fidgeted with his keys and put his Mercury Tracer key in. He got into the car after unlocking it and tried to start the car but it didn't work. His cell phone rang as he tried starting it again. The car started while he tried answering the phone. He pushed the Talk button in really hard. Nothing. Again he tried.

"Hello?" Jay reached for the transmission lever.

"Jay, where are you?" Jay watched as his mom walked out the front door.

"One minute." Jay hit reverse and pulled out of his driveway. He wanted to get off his street.

"Sorry back." Jay said this as he drove off his street. He didn't want to say more than what had to be said. He wanted to ponder, to sit and think alone.

"It's fine. Where are you?"

"Pulling out of my house."

"Where you headed? Want to come over?"

"Nah, I'm busy. I appreciate the offer and all."

"What could be more important than friends?"

"Just something bugging me, Lauren."

"Your dream?"

"I don't understand." Jay said this, trailing off in thoughts.

"Want to talk about it, Jay?"

"No."

Jay pulled around a corner with a cell phone in one hand. Tires screeched from the side and as Jay's eyes diverted , his cell slipped from his hand. He grabbed the wheel with his second hand as the car from the side started driving into his front end. His car started tp spin as he hit the brakes. His windshield shattered and the front tire exploded. The other car spun in the opposite direction and stopped on the other side of the double yellow line. Jay's car came to a stop on the sidewlak. Smoke rose from the hood as his engine stalled.

His head rose as he pulled his body off the steering wheel. He unfastened his seat belt as he opened the car door. Reaching for his cell phone by the brake pedal he discovered the LCD screen was cracked and badly damaged.

"Doesn't this just beat all."

The man who controlled the other car stumbled over.

"I'm so sorry man."

Jay looked at his cracked cell phone in hope of reading the clock on it but could not distinquish what it said.

"I don't have time for this."

After he passed insurance papers he started in a run to the mall. It was winter, the sun set at four but it was far past four. The malls would be closing soon, if they hadn't already. As he ran his cell phone rang, his ringtone distorted. He had hit the Talk button but it wasn't responding. He checked the caller ID on the cracked screen. Lauren. She was probably worried.

He started to pant and breathe heavy as he crossed the street and ran into the empty parking lot. He reached for the handle of the door to the main entrance and pulled at it. The door swung open. Surprised the mall was still open he walked inside, only to find all the lights were off. An officer, alerted by Jay's presence, asked him to leave and explained the mall was in fact closed. Jay said he needed to use the bathroom. The guard looked around then motioned to Jay.

"Hurry up." He waved his hand toward the bathrooms on the left.

Jay ran into the bathroom and flipped on the light switch. He looked at the wall of the stall. There was nothing there as he had expected. Sighing he looked into the mirror. A small shard of glass was stuck on his skin from the car accident. He pulled it out and listened as a sliver of his flesh tore. He left a small red wound on his cheek.

"Adam where are you?"

He looked around again.

"Do you even exist? I can't be crazy. What am I missing?"

Jay started dialing his home phone number and hit Talk. Nothing happened.

"Damn I forgot that button doesn't work."

He threw up his hands and spun around toward the door in aggravation.

"I need to find a phone. Where is there a phone here?" He thought for a second. "Police booth. At the other end of the mall. Great."

Jay exited the bathroom and started toward the booth. His ringtone went off again. It was again, Lauren. Phone in hand, he jammed his thumb into the Talk button but it did not respond.

The same officer pulled around the corner.

"Thought I told you to leave."

He moved toward Jay in the dark hall.

"I need to use a phone. Mine is broke." Jay held up his screen and showed the officer he was telling the truth.

"Fine. Make it quick. Come on." The officer motioned for Jay to follow him. They turned the corner and Jay noticed someone closing up a shop late. He looked up at the shop name. Still Line. The name brought a flashback into Jay's head of when Adam said his shirt was from Still Line.

"Excuse me. Do you sell a shirt here, a blue shirt, with a white star on the front?"

"I don't know," the girl replied, "I just started here."

"Who could I ask to find out?"

"Well my manager."

"I need to contact him. Do you have a cell phone number for him or anything?"

The girl took out ap iece of paper in the darkness and started writing down her bosses name and number.

"Come on I want to go home, man."

The girl handed Jay the paper.

"Thank you lady. Don't worry about the phone. I'll walk home."

Jay started home in the dark. He was tired and cold but didn't want to deal with his mother. His car was in the garage and wouldn't be out for a few weeks.

Jay dialed the manager's number on his phone and hit Talk a few times but it didn't work. He kept smashing the button.

The road was abandoned. Jay was passing under a street light as he continued to press Talk. Suddenly the phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Hello?" Jay repeated.

"Who's this?"

"Hi my name is Jay."

"Who are you? I'm in the middle of dinner here."

"I apologize for the hour. I wanted to ask if you knew about a specific shirt. It's from Still Line. It's a blue tee with a white star stitched on the center."

"What about it?"

"Do you have any?"

"No, can I go now?"

"When will you have some more?"

"We haven't sold that style for three years."


	5. Chapter 5

Oath Chapter 6

"Your mom told me you got into a car accident after running out of the house upset, do you want to talk about it?"

Jay was fidgeting with his wallet in his pants.

"That had nothing to do with me being upset."

"She tells me you won't reveal where you were that day."

Jay smiles slightly at the thought of his mom using the doctor as an intermediator to get information. He loved her and all but she has been going over the edge with this doctor crap lately.

Jay put his other hand in his pants and started jiggling the keys. He felt his cell phone beside that. There was a silence.

"Does this have something to do with Adam?" The doctor tapped his pen on the clipboard as he asked this.

Jay's eyes widened and he chuckled out loud. At first it was a small chuckle, but it grew louder. Then he stopped and pointed at the doctor.

"You think I'm so predictable." Jay liked being mysterious, quiet. He didn't want people to figure out who he was, he liked having that distance between himself and any other person.

"Did it have something to do with him?"

"So what if it did?" Jay retorted as soon as the doctor finished speaking.

"If it did, then maybe you could see who got hurt out of this situation."

"Like who?"

"Your mother for one," the doctor stopped tapping on the clipboard and looked at Jay, "that driver also."

"He hit me. It wasn't the other way around."

"I'm just trying to help here."

"Then stop acting like the enemy." Jay stopped jiggling his keys and met the glance of the doctor.

"I apologize if I seem blunt, tell me how you feel about Adam."

"Somehow I already knew him."

"Through your dreams, yes?"

"No. I knew him before my dreams of him. I have memories of being with him. Of him working with me."

"So he worked with you then?"

"I guess. Maybe..." Jay paused for a second. "I don't really know. No one remembers him but me."

"Ah." The doctor half nodded.

Jay got up from his seat and slammed his fist into the desk the doctor was sitting at.

"Stop acting like I'm crazy. I know exactly what is going through your mind. That your suspicions were correct. Right? Right!"

"Calm down. Please, have a seat again. If you have been taking your medication and you still have memories, then he must be real. Unles--"

"Stop it. Stop it now. You doctors are all the same."

"Shall we discuss something else then?"

There was silence.

"Well?" The doctor continued tapping his hand on his chair.

Jay looked down, shaking his head. He closed his eyes and his thoughts wondered.

"I guess it is best if we conclude then."

Jay got up and left the office without saying a word.

"How could you betray me like this!" Jay asked his mother as he stormed out the waiting room. He walked down the hallway and down the stairs at a fast pace. She quickly followed behind trying to catch up to him.

"Jason, look at yourself. I don't know what's wrong. I'm just trying to help."

Jay stopped and swung himself around. "Trying to help? Trying to help? You've got to be joking. You are sending me into a room with a man who is convinced I'm crazy. Next thing I know, I'll be in a straight jacket in a padded room taking medication every thirty minutes. Is that what you want?"

"Look at what's going on. First you attack someone you don't know and blame it on an imaginary friend. Then you crash your car. Lauren called looking for you and told me she was worried and I had no idea where you were either. You've worried both of us sick. What am I supposed to think?"

Jay burst through the office's entrance into the parking lot.

"Talk to me, Jason. Tell me what I can do."

"Stop taking me to see this quack," Jay said as he pointed up to a second story window.

"I want you to keep seeing a doctor until you get better."

"You want me to see a doctor? Fine, but not him! Not a psychiatrist. Find me a psychologist. I don't want their medicines. There are too many drugs out on the market today to solve problems for us so we don't have to."

"Ok! Ok... We will stop seeing this one. Let's go home and talk about it. Get in the car."

"I'll walk."

Jay looked at the screen in front of him as he typed, locked up in his room.

"Why the hell is this bugging me so much? I don't understand. These images, these dreams, these memories. They are all as real as day."

Login: Zekemorgan

Password:

Jay typed into a search engine.

Seeing people that arent there 

Results 1 - 10 of about 150,000,000 for seeing people who arent there. (0.12 seconds)

"Biggest Myspace Layouts"

"People aren't interested in you or your country"

"Scrabability"

"Coyote Blog"

"Sorry Everybody"

"Age Related Macular Degeneration: Seeing Things That Aren't There"

"Pharmacy Compounding"

"Governments aren't telling people the truth about the bird flu preparation"

"Site seeing on the internet"

"Joho the blog."

Jay opened up the site on Macular Degeneration and read up on an article about Charles Bonnet Syndrome, a problem where people who have lost their sight see hallucinations. Anything from a beam of light, to an object or person, to a scene in their head. Jay clicked out.

"Haven't lost my sight just yet."

Jay did another search.

Seeing ghosts

Results came up for movies, myths, stories, and an information sight on the first page of results. Jay clicked the information sight about if you truly see the ghosts.

"The ghost can be seen by more than one person and the image appears the same for each person." Jay quickly ruled out that Adam was a ghost because Jody did not remember him, nor did Lauren. Nor did Eric. Jay read on for the hell of it.

"The witness does not expect to see any apparitions." Jay ruled this out as well. Somehow he had been expecting Adam that night in the mall and none of Adam's or Jay's actions surprised the other.

"Ghosts appear opaque and blur images behind them." Adam wasn't transparent. He looked about as human as anyone else in the mall.

Sighing, Jay searched for the Still Line company website and found it. He searched for the shirt Adam wore but he did not find it on the sight, as he suspected. He emailed the company asking if the provide as much information about the product as they had on records. He sent the email on under his username: home phone rang and Jay picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Hey, is this Jay?"

"Yeah, who is this again?"

"Heather."

"Oh, hey, how was school?"

"Good. You don't sound sick."

"I skipped today."

"And yesterday as well?"

Jay switched the phone to his other ear as he answered her.

"Yesterday I had a doctors appointment."


	6. Chapter 6

Oath 6

When Jay got home all the lights were off and his parents were in bed. He sat in his room on his bed, the lights off. Looking out his window he saw the moon in the distance but clouds were surrounding it. Trees swayed quietly in the brisk wind. Jay grabbed a pillow and pulled it close, trying to reenact the feeling he had in the bathroom when he was embraced. But he could not.

"No, I told you, I'm not lonely."

"Ok, ok," the doctor had a clipboard in front of him. "Wa" was taped to the side of the folder.

The doctor continued, "But you have been taking your medicine?"

Jay nodded silently, making eye contact with the doctor.

"Tell me about your childhood."

"Like what?" Jay got up from his seat and started walking around the office, behind the doctor's desk. He picked up objects, inspected them and put them back down.

"Did you have a best friend as a kid?"

Jay was running his hands along the edge of the desk. When he heard this he chuckled. "Of course. Everyone does."

"Are you still friends in high school?"

"No," he scoffed. "It ended freshman year. I thought I knew him. I thought I could trust him. We used to do everything together. Video games, movies, just walk and talk."

"What happened?"

"He backstabbed me."

"Want to tell me more?"

"Sure why not? At first he still hung out outside of school but sat at different lunch tables in school. I was dismayed but said nothing. Then one day I approached his table to sit down and found I was the subject of their discussion. He was telling lies."

"Did you ever find a replacement for him?"

"No. How can anybody replace someone they've been friends with for five years? I mean I still have friends. But...I don't share secrets anymore. It's not worth it."

"What kind of secrets do you have?"

"Sorry, I don't feel 'softened up' yet."

The doctor blinked and moved on, trying to avoid the hostile sentiments.

"How are your relationships with your parents?"

"Mom's ok. She yells at me a lot. My dad and I don't see eye to eye, so to speak."

"Do you talk with him?"

"No."

"What don't you see eye to eye with?"

Jay had his head tilted and was reading the titles of books in a bookcase behind the doctors desk. Jay felt the heat of air in his nostrils as he was asked this.

"Moral decision making, politics, finances, his problems and mine."

"What problems do you think you have?"

Jay leaned over the doctor's shoulder and grabbed the doctor with one hand and pointed at the clock with another.

"I'm sure you have some concept of time constraints."

"Cha Ryut!" The kids put their hands by their sides and put their feet together, looking straight ahead at the instructor. One of the little dragons was bouncing up and down in place and another assistant instructor went over to quiet him.

"Chun Bee!" The kids opened up their feet and put both hands in front of them like they were throwing out two punches right in front of their belts. One of the little ones was still bouncing, and now talking to another student.

"Guard stance!" All the children kiaied and put their hands by their face, putting on their tiger look.

"First kick we are doing is front kick. When we do a front kick the first part of our leg we bring up is our knee. Then we kick out with the bottom of our foot. Remember if you kick in one second, put the foot back where it was in half a second. Go!" All the kids kiaied and kicked out. Some kicked with the wrong leg and the assistant instructors went over to those kids to correct them. Some were even kicking in the wrong direction.

"Again, go!" The kids kicked again.

"Mr. Wagner! I need to use the potty!" The kid bouncing raised his hand as he jumped up and down.

"Go ahead quick so you don't miss the fun. Everyone else, go!" The children kiaied louder than before with a sudden burst of energy.

Someone from the side of the dojang came over to Jay and said, "Mr. Wagner, there is someone here to see you by the front desk."

"I'm in the middle of teaching here. Go!" All the kids kicked up again.

"Switch sides!" Jay yelled and the kids all put their left leg in the back and got ready to kick with that leg.

Erik, one of the other head instructors came up to Jay. "Go ahead. I have this."

Jay got off the mat and traveled along the marble floor where the parents of the children sat. He made his way across the room and turned to the front of the building.

"Lauren. What are you doing here? I'm working."

"You could have called last night."

"My cell is broke."

"And you couldn't find a phone?"

"To be honest I forgot. I got caught up with all the paperwork and stuff."

"And stuff. Thanks Jay." Lauren turned and walked through the entrance of the door.

Jay stood there for a few minutes just shaking his head. "I'm so sick of this crap. I need a vacation." He looked up at the clock. 4:30 PM.

Jay looked through the window on the wall to the floor where the students were. The kids slowly disappeared from his sight one by one and Erik the instructor left. They weren't leaving the mat, class wasn't over. Rather, their images faded. What filled his mind were different images. But they weren't just images, they were also memories.

On the floor was Jody, teaching. She was up front and the students, the little dragons, were attentive, watching her. Jay saw himself on the side by the mirrors. The mirage Jay was correcting students' stances and postures as Jody gave commands, just as Erik was doing earlier. And on the other side was the new instructor, a black belt from some other school. He didn't even take Taekwondo. He took Shotokan. And the name of the academy they were teaching at was "Tae Kwon Do Academy."Jay saw that he was shy and would not speak up but he knew what he was doing. The owner of the building had previously told Jay he was an instructor for over a year. The boss knew what to talk about and who to hire, maybe Shotokan and Tae Kwon Do weren't that different. He was wearing a different uniform than Jay was. He was wearing a karate gee while Jay was wearing a dobak. The only difference is that the top half of a gee folds over the chest and ties to the side of the uniform at the very bottom while a dobak is a solid piece of material you throw over your head like any run of the mill shirt. It was long sleeved, white, and had a large v-neck.

This new instructor walked up to Jay and asked what they were going to be doing next.

"Two step sparring. Watch them close that they don't actually kick each other. They are supposed to just kick in the air. Watch the lower belts especially."

Jay was correcting one of the students, telling him he had the wrong leg in front and to switch sides. He looked back to the side and saw the man had his arms crossed and was watching the students to make sure they were all in the correct stance. He noticed Jay was looking at him and glanced over. Jay nodded and walked to the side of the mat as Jody made the transition from fighting drills into sparring and needed Jay to help sit the little students down. The new teacher started walking behind the students to get to the other side. As Jay walked to the front of the class he looked over his shoulder to the back and he saw the new person look over at him.

When class ended, in the memory, Jay found himself sitting with his back to the mirror walls. He was sitting, initialing the attendance cards, so the students would get credit for showing up at class. Sitting down beside him was the new instructor, also signing a group of cards.

"So what did you say your name was?"

"Adam."

"Oh ok. Where did you come from?"

"Hillton."

"That isn't far at all. What style did you take before? I noticed you are wearing a gee instead of a do bak."Jay examined his black uniform.

"Shotokan karate." Noticing Jay was looking at his uniform, he looked up from signing cards.

Jay nodded and started signing cards again. Adam continued to sign as well. Jay said, "I don't know much about that."

"Lots of fighting."

"With gear?" Jay looked up at Adam again and he turned to Jay.

"Gear? No, we don't use gear."

"That's kind of scary. A lot of people must get hurt." Jay put his attendance cards down and got up.

"Sometimes. Done signing?"

"No. I'm interested in shotokan."

"Right now?"

"Why not?"

Adam put his cards got and lifted himself off the mirror walls. He put his hands up by his face.

"What are the rules?" Jay put his hands up as he asked.

"Kick to the thighs and use knees to the stomach."

Jay moved in to throw a roundhouse kick but Adam slid back and countered, kicking Jay in the leg. Jay's facial expressions changed from excitement to pain. He threw a fake (where one pretends to do a kick to get the opponent to slide off guard) and Adam moved back. Jay quickly slid to the side and kicked him in the leg.

Adam threw a fake and Jay jumped back. Adam moved in and threw a kick but instead of sliding back, Jay moved forward closer to Adam, to avoid the blow. Jay grabbed Adam's shoulders and pushed him back, throwing him off balance, then ran in close again. Adam grabbed his shoulders and put his leg behind Jay leg sweeping him to the ground. Jay broke his fall with his hand, but landed on his back. Adam climbed on top and trapped Jay on the ground. He sat comfortably on Jay's chest, sitting upright so Jay would not be allowed to swing any punches at his face. This technique was called mounting. Jay was on his back and Adam was on his knees on top of Jay's stomach.

"Is that legal?"

"Not really." Adam raised up his hand to throw a punch at Jay but Jay moved his hips up as Adam threw the punch, and Adam fell over Jay's shoulders. Jay quickly rose and mounted Adam as he turned on his back.

"Damn you're heavy."

Adam laughed. "Four pounds of it is hair."

The side door to the mat opened. Adam and Jay both turned to look at who it was. The owner came out and asked what they were doing. Jay scratched the back of his head as he got off. The sparring match was broken up.

In the locker room Jay and Adam took off their shirts and pants to change back into street clothing. They both found heavy and dark bruises on their respective legs. They faced each other as they put their normal clothing on.

"How often are you going to be working here?" Jay asked as he put his Still Line hoodie on.

"Master told me to come in every day this week."

"Guess I'll be seeing you tomorrow."

Jay shook his head as he heard his name called. The images of the locker room faded and he found himself staring at the school's floor with all the students there.

"I was half expecting you to come out and try and justify your actions." Jay looked over and found Lauren with her arms crossed. Sighing he looked up at the clock on the wall. 4:45.

"Were you waiting outside for 15 minutes?"

"No. I was here watching you. Wondering what you were thinking. Wondering what was so important that you didn't come follow me."

"For 15 minutes?"

"I'm supposed to go out to dinner with my parents. If I say I got caught up with you, I can be late. Was in no rush here."

"So what happens now?"

"Come with me. I don't want to go to dinner alone."

"I'm working."

"You don't look it." Lauren pointed to the class that was going on with Erik teaching with Dan, another instructor.

"Shoot I need to be out there."

"So that's it? Just leave me?"

"I told you, I'm working."

"What were you doing for almost twenty minutes Jason?"

"I– " His words trailed off. He did not want to discuss what he recalled.

"Fine. Bye."

"Lauren wait– Let me talk with Erik."

Jay asked Erik if he would be ok teaching solo for the rest of the day. Erik didn't mind. He had been teaching for eight years.

"Hey Erik?"

"Yeah Jay?"

"Do you remember Adam, he was an instructor here?"

"No I don't remember. Maybe he was teaching before I came. Sorry."

Jay nodded and left with Lauren.

Jay sat at the restaurant with Lauren to his left, Ashley, a friend of Lauren's to his right, and Lauren's parents across from them.

"So how is school going Jay?"

"School's fine." He said sipping on his water, waiting for his hamburger to come.

"Did you decide where you are going next year?"

"Was thinking of Brandeis."

"Wow. Top notch school. I've heard some great stuff about that place. Do you know what you want to major in?"

"Psychology."

"Really! Didn't they just open up a new psychology department?"

Jay nodded and sipped on his water.

"And have you heard from them?"

Jay nodded again. The father of Lauren got up and patted Jay on the shoulder, congratulating him. Jay forced a smile.

"And what about you Ashley?"

Ashley responded after drinking her soda. "I applied to a lot of places in Boston, as well as a school in Alaska."

"Alaska. Why so far?"

"To be as far away from my grandparents as possible."

The parents looked at each other and forced themselves to smile. There was silence for a moment until they continued.

"What are you thinking of majoring in?"

"Meteorology," She responded, "or Communications."

"Meteorology, how exciting. Maybe we can have someone dependable to tell us the weather. I feel like every time I'm told it's sunny, it rains, and vice versa."

Ashley laughed as Jay shifted.

"Ash, can I borrow your cell? Mine is broke."

"Yeah sure." She handed him her cell, it was a more upgraded version of his.

Ashley waved her empty glass in the air as a waitress walked by.

"More coke please." The waitress took the glass as Jay left the booth.

Jay, now outside of the restaurant by their doors, cross referenced his contacts list until he came to the cell phone for Jody. He brought the number up on his cracked screen and started dialing with Ashley's cell phone.

An operator came on. "The number you have requested is not available."

Jay hung up on Ash's phone and looked at his cracked screen more closely, discovering one of the digits was distorted but he could see it was 9, not a 0.

He dialed again. The phone ring four or five times.

"Hello, this is Jody."

"Hey Jody, it's Jay."

"Jay, what's up? I'm at the hospital working right now."

Jay made a noise as he realized she was scheduled to work this time.

"I apologize. Real quick then, do you remember that kid who joined Tae Kwon Do a while ago and was teaching for us. Adam was his name."

"Adam...Adam...Adam. How long was he working there for?"

"I don't know. Not long I guess."

"Sorry Jay, doesn't ring a bell. Listen can't talk. My boss is coming and I'm supposed to be changing the dressing on a wound for a patient."

Jay listened as he heard that distinctive click when someone hangs up on you. He hit End on the phone and walked back into the restaurant.

"Everything alright?" Ash asked as Jay handed her the cell phone.

"Just feeling a little sick."


	7. Chapter 7

Oath chapter 7

"Hi are you the manager I talked to last night?" Jay was on the phone in his room after coming home from dinner.

"Are you that same kid who asked about the Still Line shirt? What do you want now?"

"Where was the shirt manufactured?"

"What shirt?" The man asked this impatiently, Jay could tell he was eating a snack and he heard a television in the background.

"The one with the star."

"There were three major factories in the U.S. One was in Massachusetts but it burnt down. Hundreds of people died and the company was sued big time. Still Line lost a lot of business because of that, and started a whole new line of product. We done here?"

"Where in Massachusetts?"

"In Hillton."

"Where in Hillton?"

"Geez kid, how the hell am I suppose to know? Somewhere on Chestnut street."

Jay thanked him and hung up. He started dialing someone else.

"Hello?" A girl picked up.

"Is this Heather?"

"Oh, hey Jay. Yeah."

"Want go for a ride? I don't have a car right now." Jay asked this as he was finding directions on the internet to Hillton from his house.

The car quietly pulled up to the abandoned building; its headlights the only source of sight. It was dark and cold. The snow was falling fast and sticking to the ground. There was no color around them and the sounds of the bustling town they were driving through had now faded. Leaving the car in the lonely lot, they traveled to the entrance. The door was bolted shut and windows were sealed with wood. Heather shivered and her arms hugged her body as Jay unzipped his backpack and got out a crowbar. Leaving the backpack on the ground he began to work on the window. From behind he saw a beam of light and quickly cocked his head in fear the police had followed them. This had been on his mind the whole time. Paralyzed with anxiety he discovered Heather had taken a flashlight from his bag.

"Turn that off! The cops could see us!"

"Open the window Jay, I'm freezing here."

With the sound of splitting wood left behind, they entered. Turning on their lights when they stepped in, their feet sank in about two inches of ash. They stood at the doorway for a while, looking around for signs of life. Jay felt shivers of fear run through his body as he looked through the sullen room. Everything was black like death itself. It was almost as if hell ate the building and this was the remnants, the crumbs left from a blaze. No one tried to revive this place, it was left to rot, to decay and fade into nothingness. Jay knew he was entering an unsanctioned cemetery.

Poor bastards that died. And what was left of them? Nothing. They were to be forgotten. Jay was terrified he would stumble upon a corpse in his search. His stomach dropped just thinking about it.

Why were they here? There had to be a clue somewhere but Jay was afraid to take his first step, almost afraid the darkness would consume him, or worse.

"Maybe this wasn't a good idea Jay." Heather said this after perusing the room with her flashlight.

"We need to at least...look around." Jay's voice was shaky, there was no foundation to it.

Heather waited, looking at Jay. He was examining the room with his flashlight, searching, probably making sure he would be safe if he continued. But he did not move. And Heather, was petrified as well. What bothered her most was the silence. She knew people were killed in a storm of fire here. And she didn't want to hear the whispers of the dead, she wanted to make noise, and feel safe. She wanted to scream into the darkness, but she figured no one would hear. Anxiety ate at her insides and her breaths were shallow. The silence was a piercing knife. A stab where no one could see; no one could feel, except her. The blood of silence ran through the room. She tried to imagine the room alive as it was in the past but images of fire burned into her mind. As she looked ahead she caught a glimpse of someone in the fire itself. She shivered as her mind played tricks; as her imagination through a tantrum.

"Well?" Her voice echoed through the room. Then it was silent again. She was too scared of this silence. "The ghosts don't come to us Jay, we go to them."

Jay took a step forward. His heart raced. He felt as though he just jumped from one side of a cliff to another and just barely made it. The ashes irrationally consumed his sneakers as they were compressed under his feet.

"How big is this building?" Heather asked, trying to break the silence again.

"Who knows. All I know is its 3 or 4 stories high." He said this looking at the black charred walls and columns. It reminded him of the Black Death. He felt the plague itself would wisp off of a wall and cover him in an airy acid. His body twitched at the thought of these walls coming to life, yet it didn't seem so unbelievable.

"What are we looking for Jay?" She crept up behind him, almost on her tiptoes so as not to disturb the shadows. Jay heard her question but was silent as he continued along the wall. The flashlights illuminated the room but the light bounced with every step, dancing on and off walls, giving Jay glimpses of figures that just as quickly were snatched by darkness as shadows shifted.

Jay raised his light to the ceiling and found a gap, a hole on the far end of the room, the fire collapsed a part of the 2nd floor. He moved his light to the ground directly below the whole and found a pile of wooden and metal rubble. His breaths were short and abrupt, in sync with his footsteps.

He raised his head and pointed in the darkness, but Heather was not watching.

"Let's advance to that room up ahead, ok?" Jay said this silently so as not to cause more eerie echoes.

Heather quietly nodded and discovered she had difficulty swallowing; her palms were sweaty and clammy.

The door the next room was open; the wood was split and cracked, hanging just by the top hinge. Jay's shoulder brushed along it as he entered the next room. The door squealed like a pig as its throat was being slit.

They stood in the doorway in wait. Close enough to feel each other's breath, they searched the room with their eyes.

Old scorches clothing patterns were hanging on clothesline passively accepting the fate of hanging eternally in this stiff room. Metal machines covered in soot were seen as far as the eye could see, which was not very far. Metal tools such as wrenches stuck out of the debris in the floor. Breathe.

Jay started walking but a sudden draft ambushed him from the front, howling and screaming as it traversed the room and struck him. It penetrated his clothing and skin, sending him into submission as he shielded his unprotected face with his forearms. He felt betrayed by the walls as the wind continued to slash away at his flash., roaring like a tsunami. The cold struck him and his sweaty hands became numb with pain. He dropped his flashlight and it sunk into the dirt. Heather and he quickly retreated into the other room behind a wall. Jay's fallen flashlight shined through the doorway. Dust stirred up from the grave of this building and threw itself across the machine room. A wave of it passed through the room Jay and Heather had ran back into and passed by them. The wall shielded them from the storm.

"We should go, Jay!" She cried out, her voice was muffled by the crying wind.

"Go ahead! I'll keep going. I can't leave yet. I swear I'll find him! I can't give up, Heather!"

"I can't leave without you, Jay!" She screamed louder so he could hear her.

"Wait by the car. I'll be out in sixty minutes!"

Heather hesitated for a minute, staring at Jay with concern. The howling grew louder, and it caused her head to pound.

"Promise!" She yelled at him.

"I'll be out. Don't worry!"

Jay found himself alone now in the dark entrance room. His light was in the howling room.

"I swear..."

"I swear I'll find you, Adam..."

Hiding behind the shielding wall, he was hesitating, contemplating his strategy. He knew he had to go find Adam.

This feeling, it was consuming him. He knew that Adam existed, and he knew Adam had come into his life in the past. This wasn't just a feeling, it was a mystery. The clues were here but Jay had not found them yet. Fear ran through his veins mixing with his blood. But he was called here. Maybe God called him, or maybe it was Adam. He didn't know but he knew this mystery had to be solved and he needed to discover the truth. All his life he had lived quietly and contently but now it was time to search. Jay made an oath. He swore to find Adam but he was also searching for meaning. He believed in destiny and knew it was his calling to rescue himself from his old life. He knew there was someone out there who made him feel different. And that..was Adam.

His heart raced. The sand and soot blazed through both rooms. His arms shielded his face as he waited. The wind died down and Jay's heart stopped. He lunged from his hiding spot in the shadows to the machine room where threw himself forward. He crouched and picked up his flashlight. He ran in between machines and sprinted forward, not wanting to get caught in the wind again. He wove in and out of machines and darted through the darkness to the other side. Light bobbed like a buoy in a storm. In front of him on the ceiling was another gaping hole that opened up the sky to the first floor. Snow fell in and mixed with debris. The dirt stuck to and blackened his sneakers as he made his way past the hole in the ceiling to the other side. On the end he saw a staircase. It was maybe three hundred yards away.

A gust of wind came from the hole behind him throwing dirt and snow up in all directions of the room. His mind raced as a sheet of debris rushed right through him. He dove behind a weaving machine and huddled his body into a tight-nit ball, and buried his face in his dirty clothing. He felt pebbles, and splinters attack at his body as black waves filled the room, crashing on walls. Old screws and metal filings slammed against machines. Metallic echoes and howls tore at Jay's ears as he began to choke on the blackness. Ashes quickly filled his lungs and he panicked, coughing convulsively. He put his sleeve over his mouth as his body sustained scrapes and strikes from angry rocks. The snow burned at his skin with pieces of ice scraping his body and clothing. He felt his body temperature rising, he couldn't breathe. He was grasping for air as the waves of ashy snow covered him. It caught in his hair and dyed his skin black was he was suffocating. He couldn't do anything, he was paralyzed by pain and the raging wings. In between gasps for air he felt himself cry out in fear. Three hundred yards. It was too far! He would never make it without air. Muscles giving out and cold air piercing his skin, he feels the windy twister of ash whirl around the room in a relentless rage. His muscles twitched as he started to rise. His own muscles were betraying him. Again he tried to use his strength to rise but failed. Sleeves over his eyes and mouth, he inhaled more ash but coughed it all up.

He removed his sleeves from his face while coughing profusely as the winds began to recede. Victory. He lay there leaning his back on the machine for some time as his body received oxygen once more. He lifted himself with the support of the machine. Slowly he walked over to the staircase as particles of ash fell from all around.

Besides the ashy taste left lingering in his mouth, he felt something else. His black hands touched his numb lips and face. Blood. Jay slowly felt the sensation of pain arise as he hugged his body for warmth. Making his way forward he felt short frigid gusts of snow slap him in the face, taunting him. He tried shaking off the dirt from his clothing but it was wet and sticky. His body started to thaw out as he reached the staircase but it started burning from ash entering his cuts. The staircase was dark and quiet, unlike the machine room. It was a straight, narrow ascension to the second floor; there was only room for one person on this staircase at a time. As Jay took the first step the ashes on the walls disappeared replaced by crackling flames engulfing the walls around him. The sizzling fires climbed the walls and caught onto the wooden stairs on the ground. The staircase was now a burning pyre. The room was burning, the heat unbearable. Distant screams came from above. His heart raced at these blood-curdling screams. What was going on? Was he seeing what was happening in the past? Slowly he shifted his eyes to the top of the engulfed room and from around the corner he saw a tsunami of people pushing and raging forward, trying to floor forward down the stairs, a matter of life or death to them. As they descended, the ones in front tried to move faster so they would not get crushed by the wave of people. Flames from the walls singed their skin. Their clothing caught on fire. Screams. Skin melting, charring black. Wooden beams fall and knock the people out. Their skin peels back as it melts away from muscle and bone. Smoke rises from their bodies. Muscles are tearing. Jay forces a breath. Jay takes a step down the fiery staircase as burning people sweep toward him. The floor creeks but is almost incoherent to the crackle of napalm and cries of the dying. Fire drops rain from the ceiling onto their heads. Hair lights up and burns off. Their eyes. Jay cannot look into those eyes. His mouth is agape. Their piteous eyes. Stop! The bodies come at him. Red. Screams. Cries. Collapse.

"Please!"

The heat.

Someone falls. Their hands red with blood and pieces of tearing skin. They are in range. Jay falls in fear onto his back looking up at the horde of men. His eyes close as his head hits the cement floor. The crackles stop. The cried end. The wind howls wildly and the stairs creek innocently.

He opens his eyes. Ashes and darkness. Breathe. Exhale.

"Get up Jay."

"Compose yourself."

"Ok..." He says to himself, heart racing.

Jay rose to his feet and leaned against a wall until his heart rate slowed to as close to normal as he could get. He waited a few minutes, looking at the staircase. His flashlight waves up and down.

"It would be foolish to think the fires would burn me. They're gone anyway."

He felt he had to go up the stairs. There were other paths, but this was calling him. His eyes rose up and gazed at the top steps.

Jay lifted his left and planted it on the first step. The stairs creaked like a cat in fear. He put pressure on the foot, the wooden board wobbled but held his weight. He took another step placing his hand on the adjacent wall, frightened of what these stairs held in wait for him. Another step, the stairs wobbled. His muscles were weak, frightened. Would the fire start again?

"Half-way there..."

Jay stopped and cocked his head over his shoulder. The wind was howling again. Would ash blow up the staircase? He stood there in wait, unable to move. Nothing.

Jay thought about Heather for a moment as he took another step. Did she make it to the car ok? Was she getting worried? How much time has passed?

"I still have time."

The stairs roared and whined as he took another step over a fallen support beam. The stairs winced in pain pulled down by his weight. Wood split and crackled and Jay felt his body drop. He put his hands out in front of him and locked his arms as it reached wood. His leg fell through. He felt pain begin to throb in his leg. Splintering wood tore at his skin. The wood creaked and start to crack again. His body became stiff. He quickly through his flashlight to the top of the stairs and started to pull his leg through the floor. Another piece snapped and his right hand reached up in an attempt to latch onto something. He grabbed the wooden railing. His body hung there as he held onto the railing and got his undamaged leg onto the next step. As he pulled up his other leg wood snapped and tore at it again.

"Adam! Where are you!" He yelled into the darkness in pain as he sat himself on secure wood looking at his leg. Blood stained his black pants. He began thinking this was a mistake but did not forget why he came. He touched at his open wounds. Thick splinters stuck out of his leg. He slowly retracted them wincing with each withdrawal. They were all superficial wounds.

He got to the top of the staircase and picked up his light. Shadows guarded each doors passively. He felt as though they were watching him, ready to strike at any time. He walked forward in silence, no sound but his breath. No creaks, no wind, no fire. No life in the room but his own. A bead of sweat broke through the layer of ashes on his forehead and saturated his face as it fell. Where were the clues?

He pondered as he stepped forward, doubting himself. Had he been deceived by instinct? Had it deceived him before?

"No."

The doors were locked.

He turned at the end of the hall into a large open room, much like the machine room. There was a hole in the ceiling, and floor boards were missing in the middle. He looked over his shoulder back down the hall he was in. Nothing else to choose from, no other rooms. This was it. He felt the danger of stepping forward. His heart raced. The floor looked so feeble yet this was the only way. The stairs he came on were completely destroyed anyway. He took a step into the room. It began to tint in a reddish color, slowly at first.

"No. No!"

The room was ablaze. He heard screams from behind him. He tipped his head over his shoulder slowly and his eyes roamed to the hallway he came from. Flames. Nothing but flames and screams.

"Not again..." He whispered insecurely dropping his flashlight in disbelief.

Fireballs falling from the ceiling in the front. His hands were trembling. His breathing constricted. His leg muscles gave way and he fell onto his knees, quivering. The fire on the ground struck the nerves in his body. He was burning.

"This isn't real! It's not real!" He started to scream as he smelt the smoke rise up from his pants.

The screams grew louder from behind. He looked over his shoulder again. A shadow in the flame. Jay couldn't blink. Smoke filled his lungs but he didn't cough. He wasn't even sure he was breathing. A man emerged from the blaze. Torso and legs on fire. He was convulsing, throwing himself against walls, rolling onto the ground into more fire. He looked up at the crowd behind the man crushing him, smashing in his face with their feet. They came toward Jay.

"They are all–dead. DEAD! Do you hear me!" The man's corpse was now nothing but fuel to the flame. People ran past Jay, he knelt unmoving as they passed. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. He felt their feet slamming on the wood as they walked by and realized flames were eating at his legs fiercely now. He couldn't lift himself, or move any part of his body. He just knelt and watched. He felt tears running down his legs as an endless swarm of people ran by. Hot tears. Fiery tears.

Ashes. Darkness. So much pain. They all died. His body shook as he cried and held himself. All these people died. He tried getting to his feet. His body was trembling violently and on fire with a fear he never felt before. He looked at the empty room in front of him and heard a noise from behind. A light tap. He looked over his shoulder slowly. Taps. Quiet at first. Then louder. Louder! Footsteps! Yells! Jay's eyes widened and new tears fell as he watched people with charred burning skin scream at him. Run at him. Such torment! His mouth opened and he screamed. Not aloud, he screamed inside.


	8. Chapter 8

Oath chapter 8

Jay got up and walked out the backdoor of the factory. It was clear and bright out, the sun was just starting to rise over the trees. It was warm out here. All the snow was melted. Behind the factory Jay discovered a large field. The grass was short and wet, a pale green but still colorful in a way. This field sloped up, forming a hill in front of him. Jay stood at the base of the hill confused at what was going on. His headache was pounding. The sun got into his eyes but it didn't hurt him. He felt the warm rays on his face and enjoyed them. With the old factory at his back he felt a sort of relief. It was a house of horrors. Though when he recalled that he had found nothing he contemplated returning to the factory. But here... here there were no screams and while he leg was still bleeding, the pain wasn't unbearable. He looked at his hands and clothing. They were filthy from ash and soot.

Near him he found a small stream flowing from the top of the hill. It was only a few inches deep but enough to put his hands into to rinse himself off. The water was brisk but it felt good to remove the ash from his cuts and sores. His clothing remained smothered in dirt. The field whispered to him as he bathed and washed his face and he looked up in curiosity. He was not frightened as he had been before, but confused.

Pondering what he heard, he stood up in front of the trickling stream and looked up the hill. He saw a giant oak casting its shadow on the hill and still a second shadow at the base of the hill.

A cool breeze passed and massaged his cut up face from all the metal shavings and debris. The field was vibrant as the sun struck it with a soothing light. Jay began up the hill and drew near to the tree.

A boy was laying on his belly playing with a toy train.

"Who are you?" The boy looked up at him and smiled to see company.

"I'm Jay. What are you doing back here?"

"It's my hill," the boy responded.

"Oh," Jay took a knee and knelt next to the boy asking, "what is your name?"

"Adam of course!" The boy chuckled and brought his attention back to his train.

"I knew that..." Jay whispered this to himself studying the child.

Jay asked the boy, "Why are you on this hill alone?"

"I'm playing with my train."

"Where are your parents, Adam?"

The boy looked up at Jay and offered him to take the train and play with it. He said "Well, I'm waiting for my daddy."

"Where is he right now?"

"I'm not sure. He's usually here at the Oak."

Jay looked up at the tree and back down at the boy. The tree was easily fifty times their size. It was ancient yet it looked so alive.

"Do you come here often, Adam?"

"No, I'm not allowed. He doesn't take me with him."

"Why are you here then if he doesn't allow you here?" Jay looked over at the factory as he asked this and could understand why Adam's dad wouldn't let him come here.

"I have not seen him in years. Do you like ice cream Jason?"

Jay ignored this question and looked at Adam strangely. "Does he know you are looking for him?"

"I don't know! Maybe. I miss him so much. Here I have another train for you. I've been waiting to play with someone for so long, Jason!" Adam handed Jay the toy train and Jay put it by his side, looking for intently at the boy with concern.

"Why did he stop coming to the oak?"

"He didn't."

"But you haven't seen him in years."

Adam burst into laughter, now understanding why Jay was confused. "I'm not really here silly!"

Jay opened his mouth trying to comprehend the boy's cryptic language "Adam, where are you?"

"I don't know...Why aren't you playing with the train?"

"Where Adam! Where are you?" Jay started to panic.

"I don't know! Stop yelling!" The boy got up and walked to another side of the tree with his back turned to Jay.

"I'm sorry, Adam." Jay scratched his head but felt pain from some open cuts hidden by his hair. He quickly brought his hand back by his side.

With his back turned to Jay, he played with his train for a while. Jay didn't want to upset him again. He felt he betrayed Adam by raising his voice. But the boy felt so distant. He just wanted to reach the boy.

Adam turned to Jay. "Am I going to die?"

Jay drew back, shocked Adam asked this. "No...no you won't die. Come with me, Adam. I'll save you."

"I don't have a lot of time. I'm going to die." He clutched his train and pulled it close.

"Adam I swear I'll save you!" He got up and ran to pick Adam up but Adam was gone. Jay snarled and looked at the toy train by the base of the oak. He bent over and picked it up looking at the factory.

Jay gripped at the train tightly. "Fuck!"

He started back to the factory and the opened metal doors inviting him in.


	9. Chapter 9

Oath chapter 9

Jay's eyes sprung open, he found himself screaming.

His vision was blurred and he saw nothing but colors and his body's sensations went from a slight sting to a writhing pain. He was in bed with a cold sweat, and couldn't move much. Trying to focus his eyes, he realized he was still screaming.

"I can't see!"

"Shh.. It will be ok. Don't worry Jason. Hang in there."

"The dead want me!" He shouted, still louder.

"Shh.. It will be ok."

Jay's eyes gradually opened, and slowly his eyes focused. His body burned chronically but not as bad as earlier. He let out a long, deep breath, and felt he could breathe for the first time in ages. Slowly he curled and uncurled his fingers. His vision was stuck on the ceiling. All white. He turned his head to the left. I.V. machine, a tube was attached to his left arm. Curtains were behind the I.V. He looked down. A sheet was covering his body. His heart started racing. A machine to his left started beeping faster in unison with his heart. A nurse peaked in.

"Mr. Wagner, how are you?"

Jay panicked. "What's going on?"

"Do you know where you are?"

"No." He exhaled his word shakily.

"Do you know why you're here?"

"No..."

"The doctor will be in in a minute to explain."

At least twenty minutes passed and Jay lay there prostrate waiting, listening to a heart monitor, and trying not to choke on the hospital smells, a man in a white labcoat came in.

"Mr Wagner. It is good to see you are getting well."

"Who are you?" Jay laid there, nervous, the monitor revealing his racing emotions.

"My name is Doctor Riley. Your parents have been notified and are on their way."

"What's going on?" He forced his hand to move from under the white sheet to his head. His forehead and his hand was bandaged.

"What do you last remember, Jason?"

"Going to the mall, work, eating with Ashley. I don't know.."

"Do you remember going to Hillton?"

The cogs in Jay's head quickly started spinning as he remembered all the images of the fire. His breathing became shallow and he already felt dizzy.

"Police found you lying on the first floor of a burnt down building. It would seem you fell through the floor of the second story. A piece of wood pierced your stomach, which we repaired through surgery. Your organs need time to heal from the shock of the fall. Also your right leg was broken and you sustained a head injury resulting in a coma that has lasted for eight days. I am surprised to see you are conscious, it will be a relief for the family.

"Why can't I feel anything, no sensation." His head ached but his limbs felt numb.

"We have you on a lot of medication to speed up your recovery. We can take you off of it now that you are conscious."

Jay found himself alone waiting for his parents arrival. He closed his eyes and tried to ignore the pain.

Jay was laying down on his bed with the phone in his hand. He just changed out of the hospital gown and got home. His leg was stiff and sore in the cast. On the floor by his bed were crutches. He was contemplating calling Heather but he was scared also. His parents were quiet but he knew he'd be in trouble later on when he felt better. He dialed her number. Three rings.

"Hello?" The voice of a man answered.

"Is Heather there?" Jay closed his eyes and played with his hair.

"Who is this?" It was Heather's dad.

"Jason."

"Ah... One moment" He had a hint of hostility in his voice when Jay gave him his name.

Jay shifted uncomfortably in his bed while waiting.

"Jay? Are you ok?" Heather had picked up the phone. She sounded angry and concerned.

"Eh. I've been better."

"That was the dumbest thing you have ever done by far. You could have died. We didn't think you would wake up from your coma. And I'm fucking grounded for a month."

Jay opened his mouth in disbelief. Heather never swore. He breathed quietly into the phone, waiting.

"Did you at least find what you were looking for?"

"I don't remember everything yet. It's still coming back."

"Are you kidding? What do you last remember?"

"Remind me what happened while you were with me?"

"I wasn't with you long remember. You told me to wait in the car and you went deeper inside. After an hour of waiting, I went back inside and found your flashlight on the floor. You were unconscious right by a machine. One inch closer on the fall and you would have snapped your back on it."

Jay didn't want to remember what he saw in the factory but he tried to focus his thoughts and memories. His memory flashed back to prying wood off the window, then everything burning.

He shook his head.

"The oak..." He muttered to himself trying to recall what happened outside.

"What?" Heather asked this and waited a few seconds.

"Jay? Wha–"

"Shh, hold on." Jay remembered the field in the back of the building with the oak tree and the boy.

"I need to go back there..."

"No way Jay. No way in hell! I won't let you go back."

"I understand... Don't worry." Jay looked out his window. Snow.

"How can I not worry. Jay look at yourself."

"I'm cold."

"Don't change the subject. Look at what you've done in the past month."

"I'm really cold. I feel so distant. So far. Like my body is still lying in the factory. My body is numb from the drugs and my head hurts. But that isn't it. I feel cold even deeper inside. The pain is bad and I can't remember much right now but.. it's like..like.. I feel like a boy...locked away. I feel abandoned, like no one can help anymore. No one can understand. And that's what I need. I need someone to come into the room, or say they are there, or just turn on the light. I don't want to be in the dark anymore. I need to know what's going on. I need the answers. I feel like I've searched my whole life for someone I don't even know exists. I NEED to know he exists. I have to go back."

"I can't let you. I can't. You'll hurt yourself. You can't even walk right now!"

"I won't go in. I have intention of going back in."

"Jay.."

"I just want to look at the back of the building."

"I'm sorry. I can't. My parents took my keys."

"Am I crazy?" Jay asked himself this into the phone.

"Jay.. I thi.."

"I'm going now."

The door opened. Jay looked up. His dad.

"Jay your boss wants you to see him today. I'll take you in ten. Get ready."

Jay opened up the glass door, and stumbled in. His crutches got caught as the door closed and knocked him a bit off balance. Looking through the window on the wall in front of him he saw a class was going on and Jody was teaching with Erik. Jay went straight into his bosses office. Joe, his boss, was typing on his laptop and was on the phone. He looked up hearing Jay come in. Quietly, Jay sat down and waited for his boss to get off the phone. He felt nervous, sick. His boss had never requested to see him by calling his house, and more so he almost never needed to talk with Jay at all. Normally Jay went about his business, picked up his check weekly, and left without conversation.

Joe hung up the phone. It was quiet. A sickening quiet. The kind of quiet one gets when hearing news of a death.

"I see you are getting well." Joe broke the silence.

Jay looked at his crutches. He didn't consider this normalcy.

"So what's going on?" Jay asked trying to skip all small talk and eliminate all the anxiety.

"What's going on with you?" Joe asked back.

"Personal things." Jay uttered this under his breath in a whisper.

"So you don't wish to talk about it?"

"I can't." Jay thought his boss would think him crazy for one, and he didn't know he was gay either. But Adam was about more than sexuality. There was a connection between the two that Jay couldn't describe. Adam was there but he wasn't. Jay worked with Adam, yet he didn't. How can that be explained.

"What's been happening lately, it's not like you."

"Not like me?"

"You never went out looking for trouble before."

"Trouble!" Jay tilted his head in anger at the words his boss chose.

"Jay, I need my instructors to be role models for my students. Your story of breaking in made local news. You broke into private property."

"What are you getting at? Are you saying-?"

"I'm giving you time off."

"You're firing me?"

"Jay, come back when you feel you're ready to assume responsibility again. Sort things out first. You are one of my better instructors."

Jay grunted and walked out with the aid of his crutches.

The car ride home was silent as a cloudless night. Jay thought his dad was taking him home, but his street was passed. Jay got nervous.

The car stopped at the psychiatrist's office and his dad got out. Jay sat in the car. His dad walked around the car and opened up Jay's door.

"Come on!" His dad said sternly.

"His behavior was never like this before. I don't know what's gotten into him." His dad said to the doctor.

"I see. Jason do you feel you have been acting differently recently." The doctor got out his clipboard with Jay's files.

"Feel? I'd rather talk about how I feel right now. Like how I feel you two are ganging up on me. Why don't you lay off."

"I'm not trying to come off as offensive. Tell me, why did you go to the old clothing factory."

"Why do you want to know?"

The doctor glanced over at his father and sighed.

The doctor tried a different approach, "Have you been taking your medicine?"

Jay looked at the ground and did not answer, slowly shaking his head left and right.

"This is ridiculous. A waste of time." Jay looked up and shouted at the doctor.

"Don't you want to get better?" The doctor tried to act patient but was clearly getting agitated

"Better? From what? Schizophrenia? Give me a break and throw your diagnoses to the dogs."

"Jason, please." His father was motioned for Jason to calm down.

"Look, Jason. I can help you." The doctor put the clipboard aside.

"How?" Jay stood up in anger. "How can you help me? Can you bring Adam to me? Can you find me the second half of my mind? I lost it a long time ago. Can you take away the doubt? Can you take away the despair I feel. Can you tell me Adam is a lie or a truth? Can you tell me why no one knows who he is, and while you're there throw in why I feel like I've known him for my entire life."

"Jason I know you are confused. Please sit down. Your disorder is very complicated and you aren't thinking straight righ–"

Jay snarled in anger. His foot throbbed from standing on it without his crutches. The father watched as the doctor and his son went at it.

"Let's get one thing straight, doc. I don't have a problem. I will look for Adam until I die."

"Your search would be in vain," the doctor shouted, "if you would listen you woul–"

"I've had enough of this! Fuck your diseases and fuck your medicine. I'm not looking for someone to tell me everything I've lived for is a lie, ok? Dad we need to go."

His father felt pulled into the whirlpool of the battle at this second.

"Jason I don't want to see you like this."

"Dad you've known me for my whole life and you are at a crossroads. You can trust me here even though you have no idea what's going on, or you can trust a man you've only met for the first time who wants to see me in a straight jacket. Take your pick."

The doctor looked up at Jay's father.


End file.
